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Drugs of the future may disarm antibiotic-resistant bacteria rather than destroy them, according to new research.

A protein complex in bacteria called the Translocation and Assembly Module (TAM) is responsible for making bacteria harmful. It coats the bacteria in the key harmful molecules, and makes it infectious.

Current antibiotics work by killing harmful bacteria. Over time, these bacteria have needed to develop immunity to these drugs in order to survive.

Future drugs that aim to deactivate the TAM would not kill the bacteria. In doing this, the bacteria will not need to adapt to survive.